Eddie the Bootlegger

It’s a long and well-established tradition for Pearl Jam to allow their fans to record their concerts. This has driven a lot of record executives nuts over the years, but Pearl Jam insists that every fan be allowed to make their own recording of any Pearl Jam show. So where did this philosophy come from? Eddie Vedder. He started bootlegging shows when he was a teenager. Here’s a quote: “After a live show, the high could wear off in a day or two. The bootleg recordings and listening back at them with your eyes closed and headphones seemed to make a crappy recording actually sound pretty good. It was like getting high again. I was a user.” When Pearl Jam made it big, Eddie simply wanted to pass along the tradition to all their new fans.